'First, the film could not be premiered in Kashmir and now the Middle East has banned the film,' Dutt tweeted, aghast.

Kher too noted, 'I am shocked to learn that Lamha is banned in the Middle East.'

Bipasha too tweeted, 'Ban on honest film? What happened to freedom of ex-pression. Sadly, people of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE won't be able to watch our film.'

Interestingly, despite the recent tumult in Kashmir, the Indian government has stated that it will not stall the film's release.

Speaking exclusively to Rediff.com last fortnight, Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said, "This is a democratic set-up and in a democracy people have the right to speak up and put forth their views. I am confident that the release of such a movie will not add to the existing problem."